The Walk Back
by Stories by Neri
Summary: Terra is out late doing errands, when she notices she's being followed. Rated T just in case, but it's not really that bad.


Her high-heels clacked against the sidewalk pavement as Terra Brandford silently made her way home, a small plastic bag of goods in her hands. It was getting late; the sun had set a while ago, casting an unsettling atmosphere on the abandoned buildings surrounding the girl. She didn't like walking through this part of town. A lot of the buildings were boarded and had broken windows. Some street lights flickered on and off. The few people she would walk past would give her glances that made her nervous. She sped up her pace several times to get home as soon as she could.

The only reason she was walking through such a place was because her parents had sent her to get some last-minute errands, and what she needed was beyond this part of town. Terra knew that if she had taken the long way around, the store would've closed by the time she had gotten there. Now, she was taking the quickest route back home, simply because she didn't want to worry her parents.

A cold breeze picked up. Terra clutched at her shaul.

_Nothing's going to happen, _she told herself mentally. _You'll be fine. It's all in your head._

Her pace picked up again anyways.

When she had calmed down, she slowed as well, taking a deep breath. She was halfway home at this point. She didn't have anything to worry about now.

That was when Terra heard footsteps.

She thought her paranoia was getting the better of her at first, but when she looked down at her feet she saw the noises and her gait didn't match. She did her best to casually look over her shoulder, and saw the a man walking behind her. He wore a large coat, had a messy stubble on his face and scruffy balding hair. He walked unevenly and the light from the street lamp reflected off of an empty beer bottle.

_Is he following me?_ Terra wondered to herself. She continued walking forward as another cold wind picked up, and she gripped her shaul even more tightly. Fear began to race through her mind.

_They could be just heading in the same direction, _she tried to tell herself. Maybe they were walking home too, or just taking a walk, and Terra's path was just a coincidence.

The stranger began to make a sort of giggle that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She turned slightly to the stranger again, and saw his eyes gleaming at her, his mouth in a smile that revealed dirty teeth.

Terra abruptly turned forward again as the wind picked up, her pace increasing with her heartbeats. This man was obviously not good news, and the girl wanted to get home as fast as she could. Terra was about to push the panic button when a shout broke her thoughts.

"Hey Terra!"

She turned, seeing a familiar brunet bounding across the empty street towards her. Terra stopped, recognizing Bartz. He had a big smile on his face as he skidded to a halt next to her.

"Wow, I didn't think I'd see you in this part of town," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"I-I was doing errands," she whispered, lifting up her bag a bit. She glanced towards the man, and to her dismay, he had stopped to watching the scene.

"Wow, it's a bit late for errands, wouldn't you think?" Bartz asked with a chuckle. Terra nodded, not entirely paying attention to him.

"What-what are you doing out?" she asked, looking to the ground.

"Hm? Oh, I was just at a party at Tidus'. He lives close by."

Terra nodded as he continued talking, looking nervously between the ground and the man, who began to walk towards them.

"I only left early because I have work in the morning, and the boss is mad at me for enough things! Though I wish I could've stayed, because Zidane and Tidus got drunk, and these hot girls walked past the house, and you know how bad Zidane can get with chicks when he's drunk, so-"

Terra suddenly clutched Bartz's shirt, cutting him off. The brunet looked down, confused, as Terra began to drag him into a walk.

"Terra...?" Her actions were beginning to bewilder him. Sure, Terra always had a nervous air about her, but the way she kept looking around and the fact that she was touching his shirt showed she was terribly anxious about something.

"Terra, is something wrong?"

Terra shook her head assuringly, focusing on the ground as they crossed an intersection. She didn't want to involve Bartz, in case she was overreacting and Bartz ended up doing something rash. The green-haired girl just wanted to go home, and she felt a lot better dragging Bartz with her, just in case. She would definitely explain later, of course.

"Um, Terra," Bartz whispered. "You're acting kind of weird..."

Terra hung her head in dismay, feeling embarassed now. She glanced at the man out of the corner out of her eye; he hadn't turned at the intersection, and was still following them.

Her eyes lingered a second too long, as Bartz finally saw she was staring behind them. He followed her gaze and saw the man.

"Is that guy following you?" He whispered to her. She nodded timidly, and opened her mouth to speak when Bartz suddenly wrapped an arm around shoulders, pulling her closer to him. Her cheeks instantly turned pink, and she kept her face down to hide it.

"Don't worry Terra, you're safe with me," Bartz whispered to her. "I won't let that guy do anything to you." She nodded in understanding. The brunet looked over his shoulder to see if the man was still following them (he was) and asked where Terra lived. She told him, and he suggested stopping at his house first, it being closer, just to try and lose the man. Terra agreed to it, feeling one-hundred percent grateful for Bartz's company. Her heart continued to pound, but she let out a breath, feeling much more secure with the boy.

Bartz whispered comforting words to her, reassuring her that she'd be fine and to take deep breaths, and she nodded along to them, steadily feeling more relaxed. They soon left the darker neighbourhood and came up to Bartz's home, a nice, pale blue one-story house, and Bartz quickly escorted her inside.

"Don't worry about taking off your shoes," Bartz told her as he closed the door behind him and flicked on the lights. Terra nodded, looking around the living room she now stood in, and gently seated herself in a recliner, setting her bag down in front of the chair next to her feet. Bartz headed into his kitchen, flicking on the lights there, and leaned over the counter that over-looked the living room.

"Would you like something to drink?" he asked. "I can pour a glass of milk, or make tea. Whatever you want right now."

He heard Terra mumble something, but couldn't make out what it was.

"Pardon?"

"T-t-tea would be nice."

"Oh, okay."

The brunet pulled a mug out of his cupboard and was filling his kettle with water when he heard a strange sound. He turned to see Terra trembling and sniffing the chair as she hugged herself tightly.

"Holy geez-!" He moved out of his kitchen and knelt down in front of Terra. Tears were brimming her purple eyes as she bit her lip.

"I'm s-sorry..." she choked out.

"What? No! No, it's okay Terra, it's fine. I mean, who knows what that man could have done to you?"

Those words didn't seem to help Terra.

_Way to go, Bartz,_ his mind snapped at him.

"I mean, it's perfectly okay for you to cry. You were scared, but you have no reason to be anymore. You're safe in here with me, got it? And if he's drunk enough to think he can come in here, I'll launch him out faster than you can say 'stranger danger', okay?"

Terra cracked a smile, letting out a giggle. Bartz smiled as well, glad to have cheered her up.

"Now, how about that tea, huh?"

* * *

><p>Bartz moved about restlessly as Terra quietly sipped her tea on the recliner, feeling much better. She couldn't help but watch as the brunet sat on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees. His feet would tap sometimes alternately, sometimes simultaneously. After a minute or two he would get up and moved to the windows by the door, pushing the curtains back to see if the drunk man had followed them all the way to his house. When he wouldn't see him he would go back to sit down on the couch.<p>

Terra looked up at the clock, noticing how late it was. She turned to Bartz.

"Don't you, um..."

Bartz looked at her from where he stood by the window.

"Don't you have work?" she asked.

"Oh... yeah, I do..."

"Sorry," she said instantly.

"What? No, it's fine, Terra! You've had a rough night, and I want to make sure you're better before you go home."

"But-"

"No buts! Tonight is officially the Bartz-is-going-to-look-after-Terra night, okay? And if I do get fired in the morning, then... well, I'm sure there's a bunch of other places that'll hire me!"

Terra couldn't help but giggle at Bartz's good mood. She admired his optimism, and almost envied it. The girl was seen as a shrinking violet compared to the rest of her friends, always keeping her face down and apologizing for the littlest things. She hoped one day she would be more like Bartz; cheery, funny, energetic. The trouble-making part she would probably leave out.

"It's kind of funny though..." Bartz continued. "If I wasn't a troublemaker at work, I wouldn't have left the party early, and if I didn't leave the party, then I wouldn't have run into you finishing your errands." He smiled widely. "I guess it's pretty good that I'm a trouble-maker!"

Terra widened her eyes as she remembered her parents. They were probably worried about her by now.

"I'm sorry," she said hastily as she set her mug down on the coffee table and picked up her bag.

"So soon?" Bartz asked, almost surprised. But then again, he figured why she would want to go home so soon.

Terra nodded. "Thank you. For the tea, I mean. And for-for everything else, too." She kept her face down as she blushed, walking towards the door.

"Wait!"

The girl stopped, turning to Bartz.

"Y-yes?"

"Well, I haven't seen the drunk guy since we got into here, so he's probably gone home or passed out in some bushes or something," Bartz said, rather awkwardly and hastily, "but can I just walk you home anyways?"

Terra considered what Bartz had said. She really didn't want to trouble him any further than she already had; he was being so nice to her, and he had things to do in the morning. Plus, what if her parents were still up, and they saw her coming back with a boy? They would think she was with him the whole time (which was technically true, but not in the sense her parents would probably think...)

"Please, Terra?" Bartz added. "I just think it would put my mind at ease, seeing you home safely."

But then again, she _did _feel a lot more secure in Bartz's company.

"If-if you don't mind-"

"Of course not!"

Terra smiled a bit at his eagerness to help out. "Okay."

"Sweet!" Bartz grinned, quickly sliding his feet into his shoes and holding the door open for Terra.

* * *

><p>Fortunately, like Bartz had said, the man really had disappeared. The walk back home wasn't very long either, which left Terra surprised, having no idea Bartz lived so close to her.<p>

The two stopped on the sidewalk facing the front door to her house. One light inside was still on, as could be seen through the windows. One or both of her parents could still be up.

"Thank you for coming back with me," Terra whispered to Bartz. "Thank you... for everything."

Bartz chuckled. "Like I've said before, it's no problem! Rather, it was my pleasure to escort you back safely, madam." He added a cheeky gentle-manly bow to the last part, and Terra smiled with amusement.

"But seriously, if you ever find yourself in trouble again, don't hesitate to shout my name, because I'll come running, okay?" He gave her a thumbs-up.

Terra nodded, still smiling. It felt nice to have such a great friend like Bartz.

"And who knows; if I have to, maybe the next time I'll show the guy a thing or two why he shouldn't try and-"

Bartz's flexing was cut off by a rather surprising hug from Terra. The small girl drew back immediately, smiling bashfully.

"I'll remember... Bartz." With that she turned and walked up to her house, opening the door and disappearing inside. Bartz stared after him, slightly dazed by the fact that the reclusive Terra had hugged him, even if it was for a brief second. He chuckled a bit to himself before turning and heading back home; even if he did get fired in the morning, tonight's trouble would be worth it.

* * *

><p>Wow, I haven't posted anything on this site for a while. xP Heck, this might be the first really decent thing, looking at my other crap.<p>

So yeah, I started playing 012 a couple of weeks ago, and I was a bit saddened to find only two other fanfics with this pairing. Oh well, here's a third.

I hope this was worth your time, and sorry if it seemed rushed, or if they came out out-of-character. I'm still practicing my writing, so critiques/reviews are always awesome. Thanks for reading!


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